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London - Saracens rugby director Brendan Venter has been charged with misconduct in response to comments he made after his team's European Cup defeat against Leinster.
European Rugby Cup (ERC) disciplinary officer Roger O'Connor lodged the misconduct charge following Brendan Venter's strong criticisms of the competition after the match at Wembley earlier this month.
After the Leinster pool game, which Saracens lost 25-23, Venter warned the International Rugby Board (IRB) that the game will be harmed if they do not address current problems at the breakdown.
Venter was furious that French referee Christophe Berdos failed to sin-bin three Leinster players during the second half, when a rash of penalties prevented his team gaining momentum.
He said: "Before the European Cup began, I asked if we would have a conference so all the officials from abroad were in tune as to the new interpretations of the laws.
"Instead, we got some European referees in the Premiership, but there is a real danger that if we don't take action going into a World Cup year, the game of rugby is going to die, be killed stone dead because the public won't come to watch.
"We will end up playing one type of rugby in the league, another in Europe and when you get to the World Cup, wait and see which referee you get.
"Last season we won 10 games in a row playing a kicking game, a horrible game to watch, but necessary because the breakdown regulations favoured defending teams."
The complaint will be heard by a three-man independent disciplinary committee chaired by Frenchman Jean-Noel Couraud in Dublin next Thursday.
"The misconduct complaint is that the Saracens director of rugby made a number of comments in which he brought into disrepute ERC, the tournament, the match officials and/or the sport of rugby union," said ERC in a statement.
